~ Personal Computer #6MS9 @ Outpost 2
Not a lot has happened lately. Recent patrols have come up clean. Nothin' big. We got another mission into the city today. So we're heading in.

I got word in from command today. Clark has been all fixed up. And they're shipping him back into circulation. They say he moves better on his new leg than his old one. It's funny. I always thought he was a bit of a wimp.

Nothing else is new. Uhh... Opus broke his finger. Yeah. The medic broke his finger. And he had to fix it, himself. Doc's wouldn't help him out. Said it wasn't high priority enough to require medical attention.

In other news. We got some new armour. New body plates. The plates are strong enough to stop small arms fire. Which is good considering the lasting rebel factions in the city. Oddly enough they are still around, even after the Covenant occupation.

Oh well. We're loadin' out with some new equipment as well. Some compact SMGs. Pack a punch, and push the rounds out.

The Pelican dropped down a kilometre out from the city. And the squad hopped down. Pete was on point, MA5C clutched tight to his shoulder. Opus came next, SMG pressed to his chest, eyes slowly scanning across the field. Michael, Jake, Smith and Larke jumped down last. They spread out into a staggered line formation, and started at a slow jog towards the city.

Michael was near the back and clicked the radio twice. Two bursts of static spread through the teams COM; the signal to thread their silencers onto their weapons. Pete's voice clicked on over the COM. "Yeah, we got two Covies ahead; a Grunt and a Jackal. It just looks like a patrol, permission to engage?" Michael flinched then flicked on his acknowledgement light. He wasn't expecting contacts this early on.

He moved up and dropped to a knee next to Pete, and pulled his SMG up to his shoulder. Pete fired a single shot. It entered the back of the Jackals head, blood and pulp splattering the inside of its glowing shield.

The Grunt jumped back spinning, and Michael pulled the trigger. Two bullets smacked into the aliens chest and it stumbled back, letting out a yelp as it pulled up its plasma pistol. Michael fired a single shot, the bullet entering at the base of the neck, killing the Grunt.

"Alright guys, that was smooth," Michael said, moving up and checking the bodies "Keep it frosty, there's bound to be more of them."

The squad moved on, with no contact for the next kilometre. Reaching the border of the city, Larke crawled up to the fence and slowly cut his way through the wire. On the last cut, he pushed the man sized hole through to the other side, and waved the squad through.

Michael moved through the squad, tapping Jake, Pete and Smith on the shoulder three times; the signal to move out, and scout out the objective. Their mission objectives were to deploy into the city and scout out a small courtyard, 2 kilometres into the city. Establish a small base of operations, and wait for reinforcements. ONI were also going to send in two small infiltration units, within the first 4 hours of UNSC occupation. To put it bluntly, the UNSC were establishing a functioning forward base within the city.

While Jake, Pete and Smith moved into the city, Michael took Opus and Larke towards a dilapidated service station to look for supplies. Upon reaching the door, Larke took position to the left, Michael to the right, and Opus crouched to the front left.

Michael nodded, and Larke pushed the door open. Opus moved in first and did a quick scan of the front room. "Clear, they're open for business." Larke chuckled and walked in, pulling an empty duffle bag off his back and dropping it in front of a dry goods display case. He began filling it with canned corn, peas, bags of beef jerky and the like. Michael moved towards a cooler, and started to pull bottles of water out, dropping them in his own duffle bag.

"So how long are we supposed to wait at this camp, considering we MAKE it there?" asked Opus, picking through some candy bars on display. Michael turned, and grabbed a chocolate bar off the display, putting it in his pocket, "Until we clear it out. Could take a few minutes, could take a few hours. Hell, it could take a day."

"And if it gets to that point," said Larke as he put some beef jerky in his mouth, "We're dead." Michael nodded, "More or less, yeah." Opus shook his head, and muttered something under his breath about a waste of time and ammo. Their helmet radios turned on, and Pete's voice came through.

"Heavy contacts, repeat, heavy contacts!" Pete sounded panicked, and explosions and gunshots could be heard in the background. "Get your asses over to the courtyard! We're not gonna last much longer here." Michael tossed the duffle bag over his shoulder, and ran out the door, Opus and Larke not far behind.

An explosion ripped through the ground and tossed a car into the air, and through a nearby shop window. Pete ducked as glass and metal showered down onto them. He turned to Smith, and yelled, "Smith! Get a fuckin' grenade out there, try and drop that Brutes shields!"

Smith nodded and ran out from behind cover, moving towards a burnt out car. He lobbed a grenade in the Brutes direction, and it landed close to its feet. The explosion rocked the alien, and its shields sparked and died. Turning, he yelled to Jake and Pete, "Fire! Open fire! His shields are down!" Almost as one the three men opened up, fully automatic fire peppering the Brutes armour and flesh.

It roared and lifted up its Carbine, firing a flurry of shots towards Smith, who swore and ducked behind cover. Pete, seeing an opportunity, rolled from behind cover and grabbed one of a downed Brutes grenade.

Turning, he sprinted towards the alien, primed, and tossed the grenade. It stuck firm between the Brutes shoulders, who let out a ferocious roar. The alien turned, and fired two shots at Pete. One entered his calf, and he fell to the ground screaming. As the Brute rose, it brought its Carbine up for a kill shot, and the grenade exploded, separating the shoulders and head from the rest of the body in a beautiful, gory fountain.

Jake ran over and dragged Pete behind cover as a small group of Grunts entered the courtyard. "That was fuckin' close brother. One hell of a kill though. Hope your mission recorder picked it up." Pete laughed and propped himself up behind a thick concrete planter, and tied a rag around his leg to stop the bleeding. I pulled his spent clip out of his MA5C and replaced it with a fresh one. Pulling the charging lever and leaning around the planter, he fired a short burst towards the group of Grunts.

One sprawled to the ground belly down and Pete aimed another burst at its methane tank. It ignited, and burst, taking three more Grunts with it. Smith yelled from his spot behind the car, "God damn! You're makin' us all look bad Pete!" His slight "Texan" drawl came through, and he sounded like a cowboy from an old movie. Smith leaned out and fired a quick burst into a Grunt. It stumbled forward a few steps and then crumbled into the ground.

At that moment, Michael, Opus, and Larke entered the courtyard firing on the group of Grunts, and within seconds they had used surprise and overwhelming firepower to finish them off. As soon as the fire stopped Opus ran over and crouched next to Pete. "Not too bad. Can't exactly say it went through, but I can patch it up." He injected Biofoam into the wound, and Pete groaned in pain as the substance filled the hole in his leg.

Pete stood, and limped towards the raised centre of the courtyard, and set a relay beacon on the concrete. He turned it on, and within seconds a link was established back to HQ, and the coordinates were sent. The squad formed up on Pete and started to set up a perimeter, and started the short wait till the reinforcements showed up.

The CO of the base was Lieutenant. Jerome C. Robb. Known to his troops as "Lumberjack"; due to the fact that he spent two hours, every morning, out in the woods chopping down trees to keep in shape. He was a mountain of a man, and a strict field commander. He'd earned his worth in countless battles and wasn't afraid to get into combat with his troops.

Other than Michaels squad, Robb was the first UNSC soldier to step into the secured courtyard. Michael and the group saluted the Lieutenant, who saluted back, "At ease soldiers. You did a good job today. Once we get the tents and bunks set up, you fella's can get some of that shut eye we've all been hearin' about." Michael chuckled, as the rest of the squad dropped their packs and propped their weapons on the sandbags they'd set up. It looked like the UNSC would be taking this city back. And they were going to be here for a while.